The Definition of Equivalent Exchange
by Fox Kitsune
Summary: Alphonse...I'm willing to give up everything to be with you...and to me that is Equivalent Exchange. EdxAl Brotherly love or Elricest [you decide] Dedicated to Maiden of the Moon!


**Disclaimer: Not yet…maybe one day…**

**Author's Note: Hey guys! I'm in Computer Science and thanks to my really smart friend I have free time. :D **

**This story is dedicated to a very good friend of mine, Maiden of the Moon, who writes the best FMA fics ever! Go read her stuff. Thanks Maiden for your great stories and for being a good writing role model! I hope this story is good!**

**Btw, this is not a written with intention Elricest…It's brotherly love, but if you guys want to consider it Elricest go ahead! This is post movie! And Edward's in college now…**

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_Amber eyes nonchalantly scanned the words with confusion as Edward Elric tapped his pencil against his lip in deep thought (something he didn't do very often now), frowning at a page in his book._

"_Brother? Are you still up?"_

_The elder boy jumped as he heard his brother's voice. He slowly turned his head and saw the younger Elric, Alphonse, carrying a bowl of steaming soup. He stopped a few feet from the door and let his eyes fall on his brother. "Is that equation still bothering you?"_

_It was then that Edward noticed the time; twelve thirty. He'd been up for hours, staring intently, wondering, thinking, all because of one little page. He let out a long sigh, rubbed his eyes, stretched, then nodded. "How can people make an equation to define something like Equivalent Exchange? Especially when they don't even know the rules…"_

_Alphonse smiled, making Edward wonder why, (this was nothing to smile about!) and sat down beside him, setting the soup down on the coffee table by his elder brother's book. Edward watched the steam float up slowly towards the ceiling, eyes dancing as they followed it. Alphonse let his eyes fall on it too, then they went back to Edward._

"_Well, Brother, what do you define as Equivalent Exchange?"_

_At that time, Edward couldn't honestly answer. How could he? How was it possible? The first law of alchemy, a law forgotten here, in this world, stated it was impossible to gain something without giving something up. But, there was more to it than that-much more. He let his head droop in confusion then shut his book. "I…I don't even know Alphonse…"_

**The Definition of Equivalent Exchange**

"Brother! Get up!" Alphonse yelled futilely at the older brother. "You'll be late for school!" Sometimes, he felt like he was talking to a brick wall. How many times had he yelled at his brother this morning?

Edward groaned and rolled in his sleep, muttering something incoherently beneath his breath. Flaxen locks fell in front of his sleeping face, framing it perfectly, like a picture to a frame. It rolled down his shoulders and spread itself on the pillow. He hugged another pillow close to him and a slight bit of drool rolled down his chin. He muttered something else in his sleep, snuggling farther into his bed and its warmth.

"Brother!"

Edward cursed as he heard Alphonse's voice. Although it was one of the more pleasant ways to wake up (Alphonse had splashed him with cold water one morning, soaking everything), he didn't feel like getting up and going to school. Despite being awake, he didn't open his eyes. He pulled his blanket over his head like a child and wrapped it around him.

"Get up!" Alphonse yelled again, hitting something against the door. "Don't make me send Masalina in there!" Masalina was one of their cats-one that thought she was a dog, and, for some odd reason, had this odd fascination with Edward.

Knowing he couldn't win, and not wanting to start his day with a cat rubbing all over him, he sighed and threw the covers off. Sitting up, he stretched his arms over his head and yawned widely.

"Fine Al! I'm up! I'm up!..." he grumbled, scratching his head and standing up. He yawned yet again and rubbed the sleep from his eyes and Alphonse smiled with satisfaction of winning. He then heard a bang and the sounds of his brother's loud cursing, and decided it'd be best to go make breakfast.

As Alphonse was walking back to the kitchen, his eyes fell on Edward's science book. It was open to the page defining Equivalent Exchange, though it was called something different in the book, since this world didn't know of alchemy or its laws. He scanned the page and saw the equation paired with the definition-it was a wide variety of numbers, and now he knew why his brother had been up most of the night trying to figure it out.

"Equivalent Exchange…gaining something while giving up something of equal value in return…" Alphonse muttered from memory, wondering why the book just didn't say that. What purpose was making a long-winded, confusing equation? Confused, he closed the book and put it with Edward's other things for school.

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Edward sat in class, slightly listening to the professor speak about bimolecular atoms. His mind wandered back to the book. Edward wasn't interested in school in the slightest-he saw it as a waste of time. But Alphonse had wanted him to go, practically forced him…

Anyway, school bored Edward to the point of tears, yet this equation was nagging him. _How can Equivalent Exchange be defined by an equation?_ He shook his head to rid himself of the thought, and tried to concentrate, but his attempts were in vain; it just didn't interest him.

His mind wandered back to before Alphonse had crossed through the gate and he felt something strange in his chest. Being apart from Al so long had made him cold and callous; it was like torture. Somehow, Alphonse brought with him the happiness Edward had felt as a child, the joy one can only experience as a child. Being apart from Alphonse made him scared; made him lonely. He didn't want to try to imagine life without the younger brother again.

Not sure how he had wandered off onto that topic, Edward shook his head ineffectively yet again and let his golden eyes fall on the peers in his classroom. The more studious ones were scribbling furious notes down in spirals; some sat in dreamy awareness as he did, and others were falling asleep.

He adjusted his reading glasses and tried to study the board on which his professor was writing. But his mind kept returning to his brother.

It was then, that Edward discovered the true meaning of Equivalent Exchange.

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Alphonse Elric was anything but annoyed. Others were, and others thought he should be, but he just happily picked up the new arrival and brought it inside, somewhat surprising his neighbors, though not entirely. After all, he wasn't one that would leave a kitten out in the cold. He wrapped the small, mewing kitten in a blanket to warm her, then poured her some milk. ("Not like Brother will mind," was his defense.)

The boys already had five cats; Alphonse couldn't help but bring in every stray he found. He smiled as the kitten lapped up the milk in appreciation, mewing and purring. He knew Edward would be anything but thrilled. Just having one cat was hard enough for Edward to allow, but Alphonse always got his way, either through his cute face ("Dammit Al not the cute face!") or through other means of persuasion.

Edward sighed as he opened the door, his jacket hugged around him tightly. He was glad to be out of the cold wind, a few flakes of snow clinging to his beautiful blonde hair. He took off his shoes at the door and heard the kitten.

"Al…Not another one!" he sighed.

Cats had a habit of finding their way to the boys' house, which Alphonse claimed was not his doing, though Ed knew it was; Alphonse DID put cat food out every night for any strays, so they always came back for more. Edward trekked into the kitchen and saw Alphonse smiling down at the small, black fuzz ball.

"Brother, can we-"

"No!" Edward cut in. He crossed his arms firmly over his chest, refusing to acknowledge the younger. Al pulled a cute face. "Dammit Al! Not the cute face!" he yelled.

"Please brother! He'll help drink the milk…" Alphonse's "other" means of persuasion.

Edward cringed at the word. "Fine! He can stay!"

Alphonse squealed and hugged his brother. "Thank you Brother!" He said happily, wrapping his arms strongly around the elder.

Edward sighed under his smile. "Yeah, yeah." He waited until the younger had stopped clinging to him, then removed his jacket and collapsed on the couch. "I've got a headache."

"You were gone awhile today Brother…did you figure out that equation?"

Edward shook his head but smiled. "No…but I know now the true meaning of Equivalent Exchange." It felt good to say that, satisfying. He felt like a traitor for being one so skilled in the art of alchemy, yet not understanding its main rule. Even now, he wasn't sure of a textbook definition, but his explanation was close to his heart.

"What?" Alphonse asked enthusiastically. He was stroking a cat in his arms, who purred loudly. Al was surprised. Edward has always been this way though. When he started something, he didn't quit until he had succeeded. Even Al had no clue of what it could truly mean, and let his mind wander to other things.

Edward smiled and looked at the younger.

"Alphonse…I'm willing to give up everything to be with you…and to me that is Equivalent Exchange."

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